


Rolling in the Hay

by weisenbxchfelds



Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: F/F, F/M, Hhhhhh, M/M, and then I wrote it, it started out as a joke in the falsettoland discord, just keep an open mind, okay so its a farm au, tHANK U
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-07 12:09:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11623239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weisenbxchfelds/pseuds/weisenbxchfelds
Summary: In a small farm town, the Engelmanns, Marvin, Trina, and their son Jason, live and tend to their farm like normal people.Well, they would be normal people, if Marvin wasn’t sleeping with their farmhand and Trina could stop seeking attention from the cute supply store owner.special thanks to @njicee on tumblr for helping with a lot of this!





	1. Trina

Trina stepped out of the threshold of her home into the sticky hot August air. Jason would be home from school soon, and she wanted to be a good mother and greet him as he stepped off the school bus.

Or that’s what she told herself she was doing, anyway.

She had stepped outside to get a better view of what her husband, Marvin, and their new farmhand, Whizzer were up to in the cattle pen. Trina had always been insecure in her ability to please Marvin, but those insecurities had never been as real as they are now. She had always suspected that if there _was_ a problem with her pleasing Marvin, it was a _Trina_ problem, not a _woman_ problem.

Because there he was across the field with Whizzer, practically shining with happiness and joy. The two playfully swatted at each other and – were they just holding hands? Trina tried to look away and actually focus on waiting for Jason to come home, but she couldn’t help but glance over once more. The pair moved behind Marvin’s horse and Trina felt her entire world spin the opposite direction. Unless she was entirely crazy – which, honestly, may not have been much of a stretch – Marvin and Whizzer had just kissed each other. On the mouth. Something Marvin hadn’t actively done with Trina in at least a year, certainly not since they had hired Whizzer two weeks ago.

Trina was a lot of things, but right then she was not very patient. She stood up and made sure to make it seem as though she had only just stepped out of the house.

“Marvin!” she called out across the field. They had stopped kissing, but Marvin whipped his head in her direction with the franticness of a teenage boy caught with his hands down his pants. “Could you come here for a moment, please?”

She saw Marvin nod at Whizzer before he climbed on his horse and rode back over to their home.

“What is it, honey?” He asked once she was within comfortable earshot.

“I just need you in the kitchen for a moment is all,” she said this very sweetly to ensure he would follow her into the house. If there was one thing she didn’t need was witnesses to her strangling her husband.

Halfway to the kitchen however, she had a change of heart. Did she really want to explode on Marvin? If she did, and Marvin decided to leave her, that would make _her_ the one who turned her husband _queer_. She would be a laughing stock of their small Nebraska town. The idea of losing everything she had: her farm, her nuclear family, her _money_ , made her shudder. So, she took a different approach.

In the kitchen, she finally asked, “Honey, do we _really_ need a farmhand? I mean, we’re paying him five hundred a week and-”

“What do you mean, Trina?” Marvin said this a little too quickly, and Trina had to control her eye rolling. “Of course we need a farmhand! With Jason back in school I can’t do all this work by myself,”

Is that really the reason? Trina wanted to ask so badly, but she didn’t.

“Well, maybe I could help you! It would be great to spend more time with you. I’m always in the house, and you’re always outside…”

“No, Trina!” Again, Marvin said this way too quickly. “Honey, come on, you should stay inside and work in here. It’s what ladies do.”

Trina wanted to slap his face with all the girl power she could muster, but she just took a deep breath and let the comment slide off her.

“You’re right.” This hurt her to say. “Maybe I’m just tired of being cooped up in here, is all. Do we need anything from the supply store?”

Marvin’s face, however dimly, lit up at the mention of Trina leaving the house. Probably from the idea of some quiet time to diddle his little boyfriend in the hay. Trina fought not to roll her eyes. 

“Yes!” He said, pulling a pad of paper out of his pocket. He wrote as he spoke. “We need to restock on fertilizer, so pick up three of the big bags. Oh, and some feed for the horses.” His voice kept droning on and on and with each syllable Trina wanted to deck him in the teeth more and more. He had made the list four times as long before finally punctuating it with, “Oh, and since you’re going to Mendel’s, might as well get some more of his honey.”

That’s right. Going to the supply store meant seeing Mendel. Trina liked Mendel. He was sweet, if a bit awkward. Lately she saw herself looking forward more and more to her trips to her supply store, because it meant getting any sort of positive attention from a man. Call her shallow, but when you’re approaching forty and you’re practically still a virgin, you’ll take anything.

Trina was pulled out of her thoughts with the sound of Marvin ripping the piece of paper off the notepad. She took it from him and grabbed her purse off the kitchen counter. She moved forward to plant a kiss on Marvin’s cheek but he moved away, and she managed to convince herself the move was not deliberate.

She followed Marvin out the front door and tried not to notice how eager he was to get back in the field with Whizzer. Now that no one was near she finally let herself relax.

“Fucking Marvin,” she said under her breath, “Fucking Marvin, of course he’s got a crush on the fucking farmhand, of course he fucking does.”

She probably slammed the door to their pickup truck a little too hard when she got in, but she didn’t care. She started the truck and proceded to have a lovely, quiet drive down the winding road to Mendel’s Supply. A lovely, quiet drive if that meant going seventy down a thirty-five with all the windows down, screaming all the way, then Trina definitely had a lovely, quiet drive.

Trina was surprised that a drive that usually took thirty minutes only took her about eight, but at least she felt better. When she parked outside Mendel’s, she tilted the rearview mirror to get a look at herself. Trina giggled at the sight of her hair and smudged eyeliner (had she been crying on the way here?). A sight that normally would have horrified her (especially in public) was making her giggle. Jesus, she needed some wine.

She wiped under her eyes with her thumbs and pulled her hair back into a low ponytail.

She stepped out of the truck and situated her purse over her shoulder. As she walked up the steps into the small shop, Charlotte DuBois, the local farm veterinarian, was coming out. Trina smiled up at her.

“Well, hey, Dr. Charlotte!”

“Hey, Trina! Nice surprise!” Charlotte replied before the two women placed polite kisses on either cheeks.

“What are you doing out here?” Trina asked.

Charlotte gestured to the mason jar of honey in her left hand. “Oh, just out getting some of Mendel’s honey. Cordelia really wanted some, and who am I to deny her?”

Trina smiled at the mention of Cordelia. She and Charlotte really were just the closest of friends. It was sweet. “Oh, Delia! How is she?”

“Oh, you know. Sweet as ever. She’s wanting to see the ‘merits of putting more honey into more things,’ so that’s why I’m out,” Charlotte replied. “How’s Marvin?”

Trina felt her eye twitch, but kept with the pleasantries. “Working hard, as always. Works himself to death.”

“Love that guy,” Charlotte said. That makes one of us, Trina thought. “We should have dinner sometime! The four of us!”

Trina smiled. What did Trina want to say? “Sorry, but my husband is probably sticking it into our farmhand’s ass right now, so maybe not.”

What did Trina actually say? “We might take you up on that offer! I’ll see what Marvin thinks when I get home.”

“Well, alright!” Charlotte replied. “Don’t be a stranger!”

“Goodbye, Dr. Charlotte!” Trina brought her fingernails to her lips as soon as the other woman walked away and began chewing nervously.

Bells attached to the door chimed out upon Trina’s entrance, and she saw Mendel poke his head out of the office behind the counter. He almost fell over upon seeing Trina, which Trina couldn’t help but think of as sweet.

“Hey, Mrs. Engelmann!” He smiled brightly at her.

“Mendel, sweetie, I’ve told you to call me Trina a thousand times.” She returned his smile and she saw him melt.

“Right, Trina. Your name is Trina, and I have permission to call you Trina. Trina. What a lovely name Trina is. Your name is Trina…” Mendel kept talking and talking and talking, but unlike when Marvin kept talking and talking and talking, Trina didn’t mind it.

“What are you here for?” He asked. Trina pulled out her list and was about to tell him, but he grabbed it from her. “Here, why don’t you just sit up here, and I’ll get everything for you. It’s been a pretty slow day, anyway.”

Trina smiled. “Thank you, Mendel.”

Mendel grabbed a cart and started filling it up with the contents of Trina’s list.

“So, how was your day?” He asked her.

If ever she did not want to be asked that question, it was then. But being herself, she said, “It was great. Got a lot of cleaning done. Now that Jason’s back in school I don’t feel like I’m starting all over again as soon as he tracks dirt back into the house.”

“Has school started back already?” Mendel asked.

“Yep.” Trina replied.

“Huh,” Mendel mumbled. “Summer keeps getting shorter and shorter.”

“I know, it’s absolutely amazing.” Trina gushed.

“You don’t like summer?” Mendel asked.

“I’m a mom, Mendel. No mom likes summer.”

“Noted.” Mendel mumbled again. He spoke up, “How is Jason?”

Trina perked up at the mention of her son. The one thing that seemed right in her crazy world anymore. “He’s great. Graduated sixth grade a couple months ago with straight As.”

“That’s awesome!” Mendel said, “I always really liked that kid. He’s funny.”

The pair went back and forth with this small talk, and Trina really enjoyed it. Another human being? Interested in what she has to say? She could climax just from that.

Mendel eventually finished loading up her cart and he pushed it over to the counter, then walked behind to ring her up.

“The honey’s on me,” He said.

Trina smiled. “Oh, Mendel, you don’t have to…”

“No, no, I want to,” he replied. “I admire you, Trina.”

Trina blushed. Was that all it took to get her to blush? Jesus Christ, she was sad.

“Well, thank you, Mendel,” she said. She then considered something for a moment. “You know what? We’ve never had you over for dinner.”

Mendel looked like he didn’t know what to say. “That… that is true.”

“Well, we should change that! Do you have any plans tomorrow –?”

“No, I don’t! I don’t have plans, I never have any plans.” Mendel sputtered out.

Mendel looked like he was about to faint right there. “Great!” Then he thought for a moment. “You’re sure Marvin won’t mind?”

Trina hadn’t even considered Marvin’s feelings on the subject. Then again, he didn’t really consider her feelings when he decided it was appropriate to roll in the damn hay with their farmhand.

“Oh, he’ll be fine! He loves company!” Lies. Trina was lying.

Mendel smiled brightly again. “Excellent!” He told her her total and she payed him. She bid him goodbye and a ‘see you, tomorrow!’ before leaving the shop.

She drove home, but this time, she took her time and reminded herself that she was still desirable. The way Mendel looked at her? He’s entirely head over heels.

If Marvin could have a boy toy, so could she, goddammit.

She turned up the radio and sang along to the songs she knew. Singing always brought her relaxation and an inner peace. When she was younger, she had big dreams of taking her guitar and making it big in the music world. Maybe even making it to Broadway. But then she got knocked up at twenty-one, married at twenty-two, and all those dreams were gone.

She pulled up in her driveway and stopped the truck. She saw Jason on the porch, nose stuck in a book, and smiled. She turned and saw Marvin and Whizzer, happy and giddy as fucking ever in the field and scowled.

She put her happy face on and stepped out of the truck. When he heard the door close, Jason looked up.

“Mom!” He said, and sat his book aside and ran to meet her in her arms.

Trina was beaming again. “Hey, sweetie! How was school?”

“It was awesome! Okay, listen…” Jason launched into a story about how tomorrow they were going to make baking soda volcanoes and how amazing his was going to be. Trina smiled to herself. If this was how her life was going to go, at least she had her Jason.


	2. Marvin and Whizzer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marvin wants it all and Whizzer and Trina share some bonding time.

“You invited _whom_ to dinner?” Marvin asked through gritted teeth.

“Mendel Weisenbachfeld! From the supply store!” Trina said as if this was completely fine. Marvin watched her as she got out her ingredients for dinner. It was three in the afternoon and she was already preparing for a six o’clock dinner! Who was she trying to impress?

“And you didn’t think it would be necessary to ask me?” Marvin uncrossed his arms and took a step toward Trina.

She took two steps back and said, “This is my home, too, Marvin. Just as much as it is yours. And it would be lovely to have some company over.”

Marvin rolled his eyes. “Fine, Trina.” He turned around sharply on his heel and left Trina in the kitchen.

It was so like Trina to do something like this. She was trying to ruin his whole plan. He wanted Whizzer, Trina, Jason, and himself to all be a tight-knit family and live together and love each other. And he knew he could have that. But he knew how Mendel felt about Trina. Anyone who had seem them interact for longer than ten seconds could know how he felt about her.

Mendel was not in Marvin’s plan. Why would he be? The only people in his plan were the people under his roof, and that’s it. He didn’t have time to other people.

Lost in his thoughts, Marvin exited the house and made his way to the horse stables. He watched his feet when he got closer to the barn to avoid stepping in anything undesirable, but he eventually made it with minimal animal shit sticking to his boots. When he made it inside the stables, he saw Whizzer tending to Dolly and a smile was instantly plastered on his face. He went up behind him and placed his hands on his hips and began kissing Whizzer’s neck. Whizzer giggled and turned to face Marvin, wrapping his arms around his neck.

“Well, hey there, sad sack,” Whizzer said before placing a kiss to Marvin’s lips.

Marvin scoffed. “I am not a sad sack.”

“I watched you stomp your way over here, Marvin,” Whizzer said. “What’s up?”

Marvin rolled his eyes, but gave into Whizzer. Just like he always does.

“Trina invited the supply store owner over for dinner,” Marvin said this as if it was absolutely the worst thing that could have possibly happened.

Whizzer raised an eyebrow. “…And that’s bad because…?”

Marvin looked shocked and stepped out of Whizzer’s embrace. “Because he’s got googly eyes for her!”

Again, Whizzer didn’t seem to be impressed. “Again, I don’t see the problem!”

“She’s my wife, for God’s sakes, Whizzer!” Marvin was having a hard time keeping his voice down to avoid startling the horses.

Whizzer rolled his eyes and scoffed loudly. “Oh, ‘she’s your wife,’ huh?” He asked. “’She’s your wife,’ but that doesn’t stop you from coming to me constantly for quick handies in the fucking horse stable!”

Whizzer was always so infatuated with the idea of being Marvin’s center of attention. It exhausted him.

“That is _not_ what I came here for!” Marvin shouted.

“Oh? Really? Is that true, Marvin?” Whizzer crossed his arms and stuck his hip out. He does that shit whenever he knows he’s right.

Marvin didn’t reply, just unzipped his fly in a silent invitation. Whizzer smirked, because of course he fucking did, and placed a chaste kiss to Marvin’s lips before leading him over to an area out of sight from anyone entering the stables.

Everything after Whizzer had shoved his hand down Marvin’s pants became nothing but _Whizzer, Whizzer, Whizzer._

* * *

Whizzer wiped his mouth off after he and Marvin had both finished. Marvin grinned up at him with that stupid euphoric smile of his.

“Let me hold you,” Marvin said, extending his arms.

Whizzer held all the power in this moment. He knew exactly how to ruin this moment for Marvin. And he was going to do it.

“No,” he said as he fixed the fly of his jeans. “I’m going to help _your wife_ with dinner.”

And with that, Whizzer turned on his heels and left Marvin alone in the stables with the horses. As he made his way to the house, he saw Jason run off the school bus. The kid’s face lit up when he saw Whizzer.

“Hey! Whizzer!” Jason yelled. He ran down the driveway to greet Whizzer with a high-five.

“Hey, kid!” Whizzer said. “How was school?”

“It was good!” Jason replied. He then launched into a story about how he and his best friend totally should have the baking soda volcano competition because the team that did win totally cheated. Except he wasn’t sure how they cheated exactly, but he knew they cheated.

Jason had managed to talk Whizzer’s ear completely off in the small frame of time it took them to reach the front porch.

“Super cool, Jason!” Whizzer said, patting him on the back.

Jason smiled brightly up at Whizzer. “Hey, do you think we could play chess later?” he asked him.

Whizzer hated chess.

“Yeah, of course, buddy!”

“Okay, after dinner!” Jason said, rasing his hand to high-five Whizzer again. “Okay, I’ll be in my room if you need me!”

And with that, Jason was gone. Whizzer paused to look at his reflection in one of the porch windows. He fixed an out of place hair before entering the house. As soon as he crossed the threshold, the smell of homecooking overtook him.

“Hey, Trina, need some help?” He said leaning against the doorway that led into the kitchen.

Trina turned to face him and seemed to be calculating what his motives were. And he honestly didn’t have any, he genuinely thought she deserved some help, and God knows Marvin wasn’t going to lend a hand.

Either she saw that his intentions were pure, or she didn’t care about the prospect that they might not be because she said, “Yes, actually. If you could peel these potatoes that would be lovely.”

Whizzer sat down at the kitchen table and did as she asked. He didn’t mind peeling potatoes. He could do this in peace.

He decided, and it may have been ill-advised, to make some small talk.

“So,” Whizzer said. “How has your day been?”

Whizzer wasn’t looking at her, but he swore he could hear her eye twitch.

“How has my day been? I appreciate your asking, Whizzer!” Trina very obviously did not appreciate Whizzer’s asking. “My day has just been swell! I’ve been inside cleaning. All day! I never seem to ever be done cleaning! Oh, and I told my husband that I had invited company over, and he bitched at me! For inviting people! Into my house!”

Whizzer was silent for a moment, but when he went to speak Trina beat him to it.

“But I’m sure you side with him on this issue,” she snapped.

“He’s an asshole, Trina.” The words tumbled out of Whizzer’s mouth quickly, and now it was Trina’s turn to be silent.

“You’ve only been here two weeks, how could you think that?” Trina asked.

“Is it really your first instinct to defend him, Trina?” Whizzer snapped.

Trina groaned. “I’m not defending him! I mean he didn’t start being an asshole to me until three years into our marriage…”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Trina paused again. “I don’t know… I just… I think he thinks of us as the same…” Trina opened her mouth to explain more but Whizzer knew exactly where she was going.

“Wants us both to be his little housewives,” he mumbled.

“Make the dinner,” Trina gestured around at their work.

“Fix our hair,” Whizzer added.

And in a moment of desperate comradery, they both added, “And love him.”

The pair looked at each other for a long moment. Each one assessing the other.

Trina spoke up first.

“You’re not as bad as I thought, Whizzer Brown,” she said, turning back to whatever she was mixing on the stove.

“Same to you, Mrs. Engelmann,” Whizzer replied.

Trina was silent for a moment and Whizzer feared his joke had been a bit too dry. He was about to apologize when she burst into loud giggles.

Startled by the unexpectedness of the reaction, Whizzer began laughing too. They giggled with each other for a long time, maybe too long of a time for a joke that wasn’t even funny.

At some point Marvin poked his head through the door and the laughter cut off as if a switch had been flipped. Marvin was startled by the stiffness in the air that he created.

“I just… wanted to know what’s so funny,” he said, like a little kid sad he had been left out of a joke.

“It’s nothing, Marvin.” The two across the room from him said in eerie unison.

Marvin wised up and backed out of the room after saying that, “The food smells nice.”

The two started giggling again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you!!!! comments/kudos are appreciated!!


	3. Mendel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mendel comes over for dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not dead ! :0

Just so you know, it wasn’t _that_ weird that Mendel had bought a bouquet of flowers to bring to dinner with the Engelmanns. It was for the whole family. Nice centerpiece for a table or something nice to put in a window display. And it was entirely coincidental that the flowers happened to be the kind Trina bought seeds for at the supply store. Trina just has a good taste in flowers. And so does Mendel.

He had reservations about following through with the dinner plan. It wasn’t that Mendel was asocial, it was just that Mendel preferred the company of his bees. Bees don’t judge you. They don’t laugh at you when you fall over your own two feet, and they don’t expect every word out of your mouth to come out without a stutter or a backtrack.

He also wasn’t sure how tonight would go. He knew the Engelmanns had a new farmhand. He’d been the one to come into the supply store one day for the fertilizer (Mendel had of course missed Trina, but this “Whizzer” was charming enough), but he wasn’t sure of how he was as a person. The day after Whizzer had come in, Trina visited the store to get more of Mendel’s honey, and he asked her how she liked having Whizzer’s help. Trina’s eyes had darkened and she changed the subject to Jason’s schoolwork without so much as a proper segue.

And he was never really sure on where he stood with Marvin. Marvin was polite and charming, but so was every man in their small town. For all Mendel knew, Marvin could be a serial killer with tens of bodies in his basement, but it was just as probable that he was a secret alien that had come down to Earth to protect it.

Okay, maybe neither of those things were very probable, but Mendel never claimed to be a man of poetry.

But whether he wanted to have dinner with the Engelmanns or not, he didn’t have much of a choice, because he was now knocking on their front door. He heard multiple sets of feet walking throughout the house, all coming toward the door. He could hear muffled arguments that sounded like Trina and Marvin bickering over who should answer the door. Mendel decided to crumple this information in the back of his mind and forget about it.

However, it seems Trina won the argument, as it was she who opened the door for Mendel. He smiled brightly at her and extended the hand that wasn’t holding the bouquet toward her.

“Hey, Mendel,” Trina smiled as she shook his hand. She was holding it so tenderly Mendel thought he would faint right on the stoop.

“Hello, Trina,” He smiled back, and probably shook her hand for longer than was socially necessary. He could have stayed right there holding her hand for the rest of the night.

“Well, come on in! Dinner is waiting!” Trina stepped aside to let Mendel come through.

“Oh, these are for you!” Mendel had completely forgotten about the flowers as soon as Trina had touched his hand. “I-I-I mean for you guys! You and your beautiful family, Trina!”

Trina took the bouquet, blushing. “Oh, Mendel, this is so sweet. It’s perfect for the table!”

Mendel blushed, too. He began sputtering out something, and he thought it ended up being a thank you, so he left it at that.

Trina led him to the dining room where Marvin, Jason, and Whizzer were already sitting. It seemed like Marvin and Whizzer appeared to be having a glaring contest while Jason had his nose in a book. It was like they kept their bickering silent for Jason’s sake, but they both wanted to strangle each other from across the table.

“Mendel is here!” Trina said as she pointed out the place at the table set for Mendel. Marvin and Whizzer didn’t leave each other’s gaze and Jason kept reading. Trina cleared her throat loudly. That made the boys look up.

“Oh, hey Mr. Mendel!” Jason sat his book under his chair.

Whizzer gave Mendel a small wave and Marvin smiled at him. Mendel wasn’t the best at reading faces, but he could tell Marvin did not want him here.

Mendel took his seat despite the unwelcome air. Trina sat in front of him, next to Marvin. Whizzer sat on his side, and Jason was at the head of the table.

Mendel’s attempt to break the awkward silence as everyone was reaching forward to put food on their plate was a simple comment. “What a lovely table.”

Marvin’s attempt to make this night miserable for Mendel was the following comment. He gestured to the way Trina and Mendel were sitting across from each other. “Such a _romantic_ table.”

Mendel locked his eyes to his plate and didn’t reply.

“How was your day, Mendel?” Trina asked politely.

“Oh, it was fine. Got a lot of honey jarred. My bees are hard at work!” Mendel replied.

“Hey, Mr. Mendel!” Jason piped up.

“What’s up, Jason?” Mendel looked in Jason’s direction, but was careful not to make eye contact with Marvin as he did.

“Do you think you could show me your bees sometime? I think they’re super cool!”

Mendel was about to reply when Marvin interrupted him. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Jason.”

Mendel assumed he was concerned about Jason’s safety. “Oh, don’t worry, Marvin. Jason would be fine. I actually have a smaller suit that doesn’t fit me anymore.”

“I said I don’t think that’s a good idea, Mendel.” Marvin said, flatly. The discussion was dropped.

Trina continued to try and make the dinner conversation bearable. “Well, Marvin, how was your day?”

Marvin shrugged. “It was fine.”

“Just fine?” Whizzer chimed in. “What did you do to have a fine day, Marvin?”

“Yeah, Marvin!” Trina said. “What made your day so fine?”

Mendel had the sneaking suspicion they weren’t actually _that_ concerned with the intricacies of Marvin’s day.

“Spent most of it in the stables, I guess.” Marvin shrugged.

“Did you go for a ride, Marv?” Trina asked. Mendel had no idea where she was going with this. “On your horse, I mean, Marv. Did you ride your horse? Or maybe you rode Whizzer’s horse?”

Mendel choked on his drink.

Whizzer chimed in. “I’m more of a receiver, Mrs. Engelmann.”

Mendel choked on his drink again.

Trina looked like she could have strangled Whizzer right then and there.

“Can we drop this, please?” Marvin asked.

“Of course, we can, sweetums.” Trina said. “Whatever Marvin wants!” She took a long sip of her wine after this.

“Dinner is lovely,” Mendel offered. No one picked it up.

The next few minutes were spent in the stiffest silence Mendel had ever partaken in. And that was saying something. Awkward moments followed Mendel like bloodhounds. Or maybe it was just Mendel’s general demeanor that made awkward moments just happen.

It Jason who broke the silence. “Why is no one talking; why are you all being so weird?”

Marvin cleared his throat. “Weird? We’re not being weird. Are we being weird, honey?”

“I don’t think we’re…” Trina and Whizzer realized they were talking at the same time, and they both trailed off. “…being… weird…”

Mendel spoke up before anyone else could. “Oh, geez, what time is it? I should probably be heading home…”

“No, stay!” Trina said. “We were going to play charades!”

“No, we weren’t Trina.” Marvin rolled his eyes. “See you later, Mendel.”

Mendel stayed glued to his chair, unsure of what his next move should be.

“Don’t be a dick to Trina, Marvin,” Whizzer snapped.

“Oh, geez,” Mendel mumbled.

“I’m not being a dick, Whizzer!” Marvin replied, his voice raising.

“You’re being a dick, Marvin!” Trina shouted.

“Stop yelling!” Jason yelled. Mendel could see the tears welling up in his eyes.

“All I want is a nice family dinner, Trina!” Marvin stood up and shoved his chair under the table. “Is that so much to ask?”

“I tried to give you a nice family dinner, complete with a nice guest, but _you’re_ the one being a big baby about me inviting someone into my own home!” Trina stood up too.

Marvin scoffed. “ _I’m_ being a baby? _Please_ , Trina.”

“You’re both being big babies!” The tears were falling down Jason’s cheeks rapidly now. He ran out of the dining room.

“Jason! Come back here!” Marvin yelled out.

“Leave him alone, Marvin.” Whizzer entered his dog in the fight now.

“Do not start on me now, Whizzer,” Marvin said. “This is between me and Trina.”

“What do you want me to do then? Just go to my room? Wait for you to come in there?” Whizzer’s voice got louder as he went on.

Mendel stayed seated and silently prayed for death.

“Enough, Whizzer!” Marvin yelled. Mendel thought he felt the whole room shake.

Whizzer looked like he wanted to say something, but he decided not to. He looked like he wanted to cry. He followed Jason’s suit and left the room.

The three left stayed silent for a long time. Mendel dared to look up at the couple standing before him. They were staring each other down; fists clenched at their sides. Mendel flinched when Trina began to speak, fearing another blowup, but her voice was quite soft.

“Look, I don’t feel like doing this tonight. Especially not in front of a guest. Let’s just go to bed.”

Mendel wanted to scream. He didn’t want Marvin to win this fight. He wished he wasn’t so spineless. He wanted to jump over the table and punch Marvin’s lights out. He wanted to sweep Trina off her feet and take her away somewhere. He didn’t want to leave her here with him.

“That sounds like a great idea, honey.” Marvin’s attitude seemed to have been flipped like a switch. “I’ll show Mendel out.”

“Oh, no, Marv, I’ll do it…” Trina said.

“I said,” Marvin practically spat, “I will do it.”

“Okay.” Trina looked like she wanted to cry. She followed Jason and Whizzer out of the room.

Marvin waited a moment. Then he looked at Mendel like _he_ was the one who had just made a big scene at dinner. “I think you know your way out.”

Mendel nodded and made his way out the dining room door and beelined for the front door. He yanked it open and stepped outside. He took a deep breath. Fresh air had never felt better.

He had started down the front porch steps when he heard a small, defeated voice.

“You’re lucky. You get to leave.” It was Jason, sitting on the front porch swing.

“Jason!” Mendel turned on his heels and looked at the boy. He looked so small sitting there with his knees pulled to his chest.

“Hi, Mendel.” Jason sniffed.

Mendel came back up the steps and sat down next to the boy. He didn’t know whether he should put his arm around him or not. That seemed like the right thing to do, but Mendel couldn’t.

“I hate him.” Jason said.

“You don’t mean that, kid…” Mendel started.

“Yes, I do!” Jason insisted. He was so heartbroken. “I do mean it! I’m so sick of them fighting all the time! Why did he even marry her if he didn’t love her?”

This was way out of Mendel’s jurisdiction. “Sometimes people do things that don’t make sense because they think it’s the right thing to do.”

“That’s stupid. They should know it’s not right.” Jason sniffed again.

Mendel didn’t know what to say. He damned his own father for not being around long enough to show him what a real father should be. He wished he wasn’t so spineless.

“Jason?” Mendel heard Trina’s voice call out. “Jason, sweetie, where are you?”

“I’m coming, Mom!” Jason called back. He wiped his face with his sleeves and stood up. When he reached the front door he turned to Mendel again.

“I wish my mom had someone like you.”

This took Mendel aback. He wanted to ask Jason what he meant. He wanted to call out to him. He wanted to call out to Trina. Take them both away from this place.

He wished he wasn’t so spineless. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank u for reading !!!

**Author's Note:**

> leave a comment/kudos if you enjoyed!!!


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